2 sisters who lost eyesight 16 years back

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): Khatera, 20 and Sabera 18 are two sisters who lost their eyesight 16 years back when the US and her allies invaded Afghanistan.

Then minor girls, the two sisters were in their home in Dand district of southern Kandahar province, the headquarters of the Taliban government, when US forces bombed the entire area.

The sisters survived but lost their eyesight, recalled their father, Mohammad, a taxi driver. He remembered people were asleep and awakened to horrific sounds of bombardment the Dand Square area.

It was before dawn when the entire area disappeared in huge muddy smog, there was everywhere a chaos. After few days, Mohammad realized his daughters could not see and had lost their eyesight.

He took his daughters to a doctor who prescribed them some medicines, but those medicines had no effect.

“The doctor told me it would require 700,000 rupees to treat the blindness of my daughters,” said the father, who could not afford the amount.

Since the incident that changed the fate of his daughters, Mohammad knocked at the doors of government officials and well-off individuals, but failed to get assistance for the treatment of his daughters.

“Last year, I tried to take my daughters to India for treatment, but my economic situation did not allow me. This year, I have decided to take them to Turkey for treatment, but you have to show them bank balance of at least 100,000 afghanis in order to get visa,” he said.

Khan added he had no other child and it was his dream to bring back the eyesight of his daughters.

Sabera, 18, in her soft voice told Pajhwok she wanted to see the world again with her eyes and wanted to be self-reliant, live like normal girls and serve the nation.

The two sisters said their father was a poor man and he could not afford the cost of their treatment. “When we talk to our father about our eyesight wish, he becomes sad, and we just mourn,” they said. The two sisters said they became sad after seeing other girls living a happy life.